Not Anymore
by Writer Not Writer
Summary: Small towns were the first to fall, letters for help and trade supplies having long since vanished from the gates of her Domain. The larger settlements began to seal up their borders, tightening what little they could control and rejecting outsiders. There were just too many mouths, and never enough food. A life of isolation and fear was the new norm. The time of heroes was gone.


**Hey! Writer (Not Writer) here! After being gone and out of the writing game so long, I wanted to get back into it by practicing with a few one shots. It will let me get all the swarming ideas out of my head, allowing me to focus on my continuing stories (for example, Does This Unit Have A Soul?) So, I do hope you enjoy some of these stories as I start to get back into writing again! This first one is very much based on a different video game.**

**Also, for anyone wondering about the name, I am the actual writer despite what the name might imply. It's a really lame reference to the band Was (Not Was). You know, the Walk the Dinosaur guys. I know.**

"Help! Somebody help me!"

The world was no longer a safe place. That was a fact that had been known for a century now. Long ago, the 5 Champions stood against the great evil, and lost. One by one the Champions fell to Ganon's trap, and Hyrule's last hope, the One Who Wields The Blade that Seals the Darkness, collapsed protecting the princess from harm. Since that day, Hyrule was no longer safe. The princess had long disappeared, her life having been taken by the monstrous beast, and Ganon wasted no time in exerting his control over Hyrule from his cursed throne on the ruins of Hyrule Castle. The monster grew more powerful, more hideous, and above all, deadlier. Small towns were the first to fall, letters for help and trade supplies having long since vanished from the gates of her Domain. The larger settlements began to seal up their borders, tightening what little they could control and rejecting outsiders. There were just too many mouths, and never enough food. A life of isolation and fear was the new norm, and Ganon's influence slowly encroached on the last bastions of life every day. The desperate need for supplies and deep suspicion of others had led to the next inevitable outcome: raiding. People began to do whatever they needed to survive. Stealing, robbing, even murdering each other just to gather what little they could from whomever they could get it from. One could argue that was what was truly killing Hyrule. No one helped one another anymore.

The fog was rolling by, like a giant wall of white, as a young Zora, her red coloring contrasting against the white, sprinted down a desolate dirt path, a writhing bag of fish dripping with water strapped to her back. From her position, Zora's Domain was perfectly shining, even through the heavy fog settling in the area. But just because she could see her glimmering home did not mean she was out of the woods just yet. She was far from the river, and the fog was a poor bedfellow, hiding the water from her sight. Spotting a rocky outcrop, she quickly darted behind it, her hand slapping her mouth shut as she desperately corralled her breath in.

Her eyes slowly crept back to her earlier position, desperately searching the fog for some hint of her pursuer. It was only a moment before heavy footfalls and a metallic clanging broke the silence of the early morning. A large, dark figure slowly stomped out from behind the her hiding place, its heavy breathing now quite evident to the young Zora. It stopped, slowly turning back and forth, hunting for any sign of its prey. The girl trembled as it held its gaze in her direction, its red eyes barely piercing the white veil. Her heartbeat sounded in her ears as tears began to form in her eyes. The figure's axe scraped against the ground as it turned towards her. A low, eery whispering pricked in her ears as the being opened its mouth, a black mist pouring from it. She began to panic, believing her position to be revealed as she began to stumble backwards. A loud clang snapped the monster to attention, its eyes still lingering on her. And just like that, its attention turned back toward the path, and without so much as a growl, it disappeared into the fog.

She had no sense of how much time had passed since she last saw the creature, but the sound of the river snapped her out of her vigil. As she turned towards the source, her features noticeably brightened, her hopes rising as she dashed towards the source of the noise. Just one more corner, just around the bend, she'd be safe. The water was her home, and those beasts could not reach her there. All she had to do was get there. She barreled around the corner, her objective just within reach.

Only to find her nightmare incarnate standing before her. The black, misty being slowly turned towards the Zora, its lizard like mouth vibrated as the sound of her supposed haven dripped from its open maw. The voids where its eyes should be locked on her, the vocal trickery ceasing as it slowly drew its weapon. The petrified girl could see her reflection in the blade as the being slowly walked towards her. Every fiber of her being told her to run. She knew her only chance was the turn and escape. But the feeling in her legs had long since left her, and her arms trembled at her sides. She saw death coming, the being's blade rose up into the air, the entity silent as it went to complete its task, its eyeless voids peering deep into hers.

The image of its features vanished. She slowly blinked back her tears, her eyes slowly trailing down to the grassy ground below the two of them. It's face still held the empty voids, the lizard like jaws, even the black mist gently wafting from its skin. The main difference was the positioning of its head, now missing from the top of its neck. The being slowly wavered for just a moment before collapsing into a heap on the ground, it's body twitching but none the less lifeless. A sheathing blade broke her of her stupor, her eyes breaking from the corpse to study the new arrival. The cloaked figure finished sheathing its weapon, before glancing her over. The young Zora trembled in fear as the figure bent over her, her hands gripping her precious supplies. All strangers were monsters now, and this figure would be no exception. As she turned to run, the black figure from earlier brought its axe down, cutting through the fog from its concealed position. The stranger's blade clashed against the axe, sending the weapon back into the fog as the figure vanished from view. The cloaked figure glanced back and forth as the young Zora backed up slowly, inching her way away from the stranger. She was soon yanked back as a shadowy hand grabbed her woven sack, lifting her into the air. She screamed as she writhed back and forth, the strap on her pack slowly beginning to snap. The beast holding her began to reach over the grab hold of her, its shadowy claws a mere inch away from her face.

A snap freed her from her captor, the sack freeing itself from her as she fell to the ground, stumbling as she landed. Her eyes snapped forward as the cloaked figure quickly dashed towards the pair of them, blade drawn and closing fast. Her eyes widened as she tumbled to the side, a clashing of metal signaling the strangers blade had connected with the monsters axe. As she stumbled to her feet, she quickly turned back to the clashing pair, only to see the cloaked figure's blade pierce the creatures chest, black ooze spewing from its wound. The creature reached forward towards the figure, grasping weakly at him. The figure only silently shook their head, twisting the blade stuck within the monster's chest. The beast let out a howl, its clawed hand grasping at the blade. Finally, its hand finally fell away, the beast falling to its knees, Dead well before it touched the ground. Yanking their weapon from the corpse, the cloaked figure quickly shook off husband blade, the blood still dripping from the tip. The cloaked figure turned back towards the Zora, her sack of fish in hand.

This was it, she thought. The new law of the land. The strong take from the weak. She was weak, and she was lucky to have her life. She barely had time to register the sack was now flying at her, her arms quickly jolting up to catch the sack. Her eyes blinked rapidly, not believing the sight before her before looking back at the stranger. Glancing towards her, he sheathed his blade and turned to leave.

The young Zora girl hesitated, before calling out to him. "...why? Why save me?"

The figure stopped. And they stayed stopped for what seemed like minutes before they turned back towards her. Their eyes froze on her, seemingly stuck in a memory as she tilted her head to the side as she silently questioned what he figure was thinking of. After a minute, an awkwardly long minute in the Zora's opinion, the figure shook their head, snapping themselves out of whatever trance they were in. They glanced down at their slightly shaking hand, clenched it, and reached up, letting the hood fall from their face. Blonde hair appeared, and sharp male features highlighted the striking blue eyes the man had. His eyes bore down on the girl, and from them she could discern a great deal of emotions: sorrow, regret, and above all, loneliness.

The man opened his mouth to speak, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "When I was a child, an...incredible woman saved my life. She was a Zora too, with red skin skin that would make a ruby jealous." The Zora girl glanced down to her skin, connecting the dots in her head. "I was just a child, and I had gotten lost one morning. I couldn't find my way back, and I was soon cornered by Lizalfos. I had accepted my end then. I had no family. My mother was gone, and my father no longer lived with me. I was alone. And so it seemed fitting that I would end it that way. And then...she saved me. She killed the monsters. And when she had slain the last one, she turned to me and smiled." A small smile crept across his face. "I fell in love with her that day. And I never fell out. She always told me I'd return the favor." His features fell, a darkness leaking into his eyes as they slowly looked the ground. "I just wish it could have been for her."

He took one last look at her, nodded, and turned to leave once more. She stared off towards the figure as the fog began to consume him, unsure if she should say anything to him, before turning towards the Domain. She didn't need to say anything, she hadn't asked for him to save her. And yet, before she could take a step, she quickly came to a conclusion. It's exactly because he had done it without her asking is what made it worthy of thanks. It was truly...heroic. Nodding to herself, she flipped around, planted her feet, and called out onto him. "Thank you for saving me! You're my hero!"

The figure froze, his body barely visible in the mist as he chuckled to himself. He turned slightly towards her, his piercing blue eyes cutting through the fog. "A hero, huh?" He turned back towards the fog, its white tendrils gripping the edges of his form. "No..." He stepped forward, disappearing completely into the fog.

"Not anymore."

The Zora girl smiled to herself, gripping her sack tighter. "I think you are." She turned back towards the Domain, quickly hurrying off to tell her big brother about the man who had saved her. No, she thought. The _hero_ that had saved her.


End file.
